Oklahoma State Cowboys Ready to Start Conference

Originally Published: Oct 5, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER , Oklahoma -- After a week off, the Oklahoma State Cowboys are back in the saddle and gearing up for their first conference game of the season. They will travel to College Station, Texas to take on the Texas A&M Aggies Oct. 10.

Despite a disappointing early season loss to Houston, the Cowboys’ goal going into a the season was to play in the Big 12 Championship, and now the pressure is on to get the job done.

“You know that you’re playing for the Big 12 Championship. You can’t lose a game,” said senior safety Lucien Antoine. “If you lose a game you’re going to go toward the bottom.”

Not only is this the conference opener for the Cowboys, this is the first game outside of T. Boone Pickens Stadium this season. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their first road test comes in a stadium that is known as one of the loudest in the conference.

OSU has to take extra steps to make sure they are prepared for the unfriendly confines of Kyle Field.

“Our coaches already emphasized it’s going to be loud down there so we have to just pay attention to what’s going on,” said freshman wide receiver Isaiah Anderson. “We’ll probably practice with noise this week so we can be prepared to go down there.”

The question for OSU going into conference play lies with their defense.

The Cowboys are giving up more than 350 yards per game. With the high-powered offenses in the conference, Oklahoma State needs to work hard, especially on that side of the ball, if it wants to achieve its goals for the season.

“We need a good week of practice,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. “We need to prepare to play four quarters and be sound in all three phases.”

The Cowboys are 17-7 all-time against Texas A&M, but are coming off their biggest win of the series since the late 1980’s, a 56-28 win at home. Oklahoma State squares off against the Aggies Oct. 10 at 11:30 a.m.